Cigarette extinguishing device



June 26, 1951 E. o. STATELLES CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHING DEVICE Filed Jan. 18, 1950 INV'ENTOR.

Patented June 26, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHIN G DEVICE Epiphany 0. Statelles, East Orange, N. J. Application January 18, 1950, Serial No. 139,238

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a device for extinguishing cigarettes coincident with its disposal in an ash tray or other suitable receptacle.

The object of the invention is to provide a cigarette extinguisher device that is substantially non-clogging.

A further object is to provide a non-clogging cigarette extinguisher that is adapted for wide utility in association with ash trays and recep" tacles in automobiles, homes, offices and public rooms.

Another object is to provide a non-clogging manually operative, cigarette snubber device.

Other objects will be apparent as the invention is more fully hereinafter disclosed.

In accordance with these objects I have devised a cigarette snubber device which is an improvement of the device disclosed and claimed in my prior Patent No. 2,253,473 issued August 19, 1941, in that the present device is non-clogging.

This improvement has been attained by providing a stationary cutter bar and tubular cigarette receiver mounted in position above the cutter for pivotal movement of the receiver over the cutter bar for the removal of the burning end thereof and for the separate discharge of the cutoff burning end and cigarette stub therefrom, all as will be more fully hereinafter disclosed.

As one specific embodiment of the present invention but not as a limitation thereof I have i1 lustrated in the drawings the form thereof which is adapted to be detachably secured to a stand for positioning above an ash tray, such as is commonly used in the home or in offices.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the device of the present invention mounted on a stand in position above an ash tray, the ash tray being shown in outline only as it forms no part of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cut-away view showing the device in one operating position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the device in an opposite operating position;

Fig. 4 is an isometric view of the device of the present invention with the cigarette receiver removed.

Referring to the drawings, the device of the present invention consists essentially of a tubular cigarette receiver B and means sustaining the same vertically to be pivoted manually in opposite directions; a spring means S to return the receiver to vertical position from either position of manual pivoting; a cutter bar A and means sustaining the same on one side of the receiver at a horizontal lever bringing the cutting edge of the bar adjacent the bottom end of the receiver; an inclined shelf D and means sustaining the same under the receiver and below the bar in a position to prevent a cigarette from falling through the receiver, the gap between the shelf and the bottom end of the'receiver being approximately the length of the average burning end of a cigarette thereby to locate the cutting edge of the cutter bar at or about the upper end of said burning cigarette end; and a stop means on each side of. the receiver B to limit pivoting movement to that distance permitting the free gravitational discharge of a cigarette from the receiver B.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the cigarette'extinguishing device of the specific embodiment is shown detachably secured to the vertically extending end of the stand E upon which is located ash tray T, the device being lo cated in proper position over the ash tray T for the discharge of ashes and stubs into the ash tray.

For convenience in manufacturing the device of the present invention, the means for supporting or sustaining the receiver B, bar A and shelf D consists of a frame F comprised of one-piece molded or stamped material, such as one of the heat resistant synthetic resins or a suiable metallic composition. The composition, per se, of the frame F forms no part of the present invention but preferably consists of metal such as brass or steel capable of being stamped into the shape indicated in the drawings.

As indicated in the drawings, the tubular receiver B is pivotally mounted in a vertical position on the frame F by pins lilll3' in a position bringing the bottom end of the receiver adjacent the cutting edge of the cutter bar A, which in the instant example is formed integral with the frame F.

Shelf D is mounted on the frame F in a position below the bar A and under the receiver B providing a space gap approximating the usual length of the burning end of a cigarette, thereby locating the cutting edge of bar A in a position to cut ofi the burning end of the cigarette when the receiver 3 is pivotally moved towards and over the bar A.

To facilitate the removal of the burning end of the cigarette the shelf D is provided with an opening 0 therein of lesser diameter than that of the cigarette into which the burning end of the cigarette is received which normally anchors the burning end of the cigarette in the shelf D against the pivotal movement of the receiver B. By thus anchoring the burning end of the cigarette the sharpness of the cutting edge of cutter bar A is not of great importance and the general effect obtained is more of a pinching and snubbing effect than a cutting effect as the receiver is passed over the bar A. The burned end of the cigarette falls partly through the opening and partly off the inclined shelf.

Spring means S for the return of the receiver B to vertical position after manual pivoting in either direction may also be widely varied without essential departure from the invention, as one skilled in the art will recognize.

In the specific embodiment shown, spring S is a typical coil-type tension spring having one end secured to the receiver B and the other end secured to the frame F in such a way that in either direction of pivoting the receiver B the coil will be placed under tension, substantially as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, to return the receiver B to vertical position at which position the spring S is free of tension.

As indicated in Fig. 2, a stop bar I2 is provided on the frame F to limit pivotal movement or the receiver B in one direction and stop shoulder l3 of the frame? limits pivotal movement of the receiver B in the opposite direction to that distance permitting free gravitational discharge of a cigarette from the receiver B.

Several alternative means to detachably secure the frame F to the support E. in substitution for the spring clip means M, shown in the drawings, are available in the art without departure from the invention as one skilled in the art will recognize.

The operation of the present device is believed clearly indicated in the drawings. The device normally has the position indicated in Fig. 1 over an ash tray T. When the lit cigarette C is placed, lit enddown, in the receiver B, theireceiver B is pivoted manually in the direction of the bar A, as indicated in Fig. 2. In most instances the lit end of the cigarette is squeezed or cut off of the cigarette as the cigarette is carried over the bar A, the ash end e falling in part through the opening 0 and in major part down and off the end of inclined shelf D into the ash tray T. As the rear edge of the receiver B clears the bar A the cigarette falls from the receiver B into the ash tray T. In the event the burning end of the cigarette is relatively short and the cutter bar A engages the cigarette C at a point above the burning end, it is sometimes diffi'cu-l't for the corner of the bar A to cut through the unburned tobacco of the cigarette. Normally, under these conditions, the lighted end of the cigarette is seated within the opening 0 sufliciently such that on the pivoting of the receiver B in the direction away from the bar A the lighted end will be broken on" and discharged through the opening 0 before the receiver B is pivoted to the cigarette discharging position indicated in Fig. 3. In either pivoted position, however, the receiver B may be cleared of the cigarette stub without difiiculty and the device is substantially a non-clogging cigarette snubbing or extinguishing device.

Having hereinabove described the invention andv described and illustrated one specific embodiment thereof, it is believed apparent that many modifications and departures therefrom may be made without essential departure from the invention and all such are contemplated as may fall within the scope of the following claim.

What I claim is:

A cigarette extinguisher comprising a frame, a tubular cigarette receiver vertically disposed in said frame and having open ends, said frame hav ing a portion for sustaining the receiver vertieally and adapted to permit limited angular oscillating movement of the receiver in a vertical plane, spring means connected to a portion of the receiver and said frame'adapted to return said receiver to a vertical position, said spring means comprising a coil spring connected to said receiver and the frame such that the spring will be stressed only in tension irrespective of the direction in which the receiver may be angularly displaced from a vertical position, a bar below said receiver adapted to remove the lit end of a cigarette placed lit end downwardly in the receiver when said receiver is manually displaced toward and over the bar or manually returned thereto, and means for guiding the removed end downwardly and away from the bar and the receiver.

EPIPHANY O. STATELLES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 861,519 Johnson July 30, 1907 1,583,738 Oltra May 4, 1926 1,693,480 Gonyk Nov. 27, 1928 2,253,473 statelles Aug. 19, 1941 2,456,528 Moyle Dec. 14, 1948 

